The Roman Catholic Church has a systemic problem with its priests—sexual abuse of minors. Adding to the thousands having been sexually abused by priests in the United States, Chile, Australia, Ireland and France, is Spain.

Spain’s human rights Ombudsman presented a report to the Spanish parliament on October 27^th indicating that more than one in 200 Spaniards may have been sexually abused by Catholic Church priests since the 1940s. Given Spain’s population of roughly 47 million (a little larger than California), that amounts to about 235,000 victims where some 61% of Spaniards identify as Roman Catholic.

The Catholic Spanish Episcopal Conference said the reports “do not correspond to the truth.” But the Spanish parliament heard a different story. The parliament commissioned the Spanish Ombudsman to conduct an investigation beginning in July 2022 into allegations of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church and the role of public authorities. Over 8,000 people were surveyed, victims were interviewed, and public reports were investigated, according to the Ombudsman’s report.

The report states that while some Catholic Church representatives were cooperative, the bulk of the Church was defensive and “refused to collaborate with the investigation.” The report documents that records of sexual abuse were not kept by the church “even when offenders were named by several victims.”

The report stated: “There is a great deal of evidence that sexual abuse within the Catholic Church is a serious social and public healthcare issue that has caused a great deal of harm. The seriousness of the phenomenon at a social level stems not only from how intensely the victims have suffered but also from the number of people who have been affected and how their trust, and the trust of a large number of people, has been betrayed by an institution that has clearly exercised power and moral authority…

The issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church has affected boys, girls, and adolescents in particular and must be viewed in the context of the issue of child sex abuse and, more specifically, victimization in institutional contexts.” The report said that some 64.6% of the victims were male.

The report said: “At least from an official standpoint, the Catholic Church’s response has long been characterized by denial and attempts to downplay the issue.”

Accordingly, Spain’s Catholic Church reacted to the report first by trying to discredit the report by calling the numbers untruthful—a polite way of saying they were a lie. Second, by issuing a feckless statement rather than a direct apology. Cardinal Juan Jose Omella told reporters, “I reiterate the petition for pardon to the victims for this pain.” In the US, the Baltimore Diocese is declaring bankruptcy to avoid future sex abuse claims.

In Mark 9:42, Christ said, “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.”

How much tithe money perpetuates this evil and stains the hands of givers?

Sources:

• https://www.defensordelpueblo.es/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/RESUMEN_INFORME_abusos_Iglesia_catolica.pdf
• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/spains-bishops-apologize-for-sex-abuses-but-dispute-the-estimated-number-of-victims-in-report/ar-AA1j9iqJ
• https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/one-200-spaniards-may-have-been-abused-by-catholic-priests-rights-ombudsman-2023-10-27/

“The priest is the man of God, the minister of God… He that despiseth the priest despiseth God; he that hears him hears God. The priest remits sins as God, and that which he calls his body at the altar is adored as God by himself and by the congregation…. It is clear that their function is such that none greater can be conceived. Wherefore they are justly called not only angels, but also God, holding as they do among us the power and authority of the immortal God.” –The Council of Trent (1546)

Posted in The Daily Jot

We have seen the images and heard the reports of Congressional Representatives, organizations, professors, and others rallying in support of Hamas against Israel. People who share this support of Hamas are absolutely wrong. Nothing underscores their error more than what we have witnessed in Israel.

My God! How can anyone in their right mind support the bloodlust brutality of Hamas? One would have to be incredibly evil. All these people who are protesting on behalf of a Free Palestine believe their opinion is equal to anybody else’s opinion. They believe they have a right to support Hamas. But having the right doesn’t make it right, nor does it make it remotely acceptable. There is clearly evil among us.

There is no moral equivalency between supporting Hamas and supporting Israel. None whatsoever. Hamas and the other Islamic terror organizations and terrorist-sponsoring countries’ stated purpose is the destruction of Israel. That means the killing, raping, dismembering, and torturing of innocent men, women and children. This is the governance of the caliphate, where the laws of Islam require submission or death.

Understand that Hamas, the governing body of Gaza, is a caliphate. In 2005, the “Palestinian” people in Gaza began electing Hamas representatives in the newly formed “democracy” instituted with the help of President George W. Bush. By January 25, 2006, the “Palestinian” people elected the terrorist group to govern Gaza by nearly a two-to-one margin, sending ripples throughout the world at the time. It also put the terrorist group in control of the hundreds of millions of dollars being sent by the US to boost the Gaza economy.

At the time, Iran’s foreign ministry congratulated Hamas by saying, “The massive participation of the Palestinians shows their will to continue the struggle and resistance against occupation.”

Hamas and Iran were close allies who announced in December 2005 that they were forming a “united front” against Israel, something that was solidified in January 2006 when Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Hamas in Syria and vowed support, both politically and financially, to the terrorist efforts of Hamas against Israel. Missiles have been fired into Israel from Gaza ever since.

The mission of Hamas is no secret—the elimination of Israel. And the way they do it is through terror—rape, dismemberment, and torture against innocent men, women, and children. Those who are publicly showing their support of Hamas’s actions in Israel—in the US Congress, at public rallies in places like Dearborn, MI, in colleges and universities, etc.—are participating in a genocide initiative dedicated to the eradication of the Jewish people, and for anyone else who does not submit to Islam. This is the theology of Hamas, Iran, Turkey, Hezbollah, and the other terror actors.

The opinion of those supporting Hamas is evil. It has no moral equivalency with decency or the laws of God. Do not give them ground.

As said in I Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from every form of evil.” That goes for people supporting it.

Posted in The Daily Jot